"不要去找那种不三不四的 char bor hor! " ~ Mummy

Ok guys! I'm back! Back from the sunny beaches of Bintan...with a beautiful honey-hued tan and free from salacious scandals with women of ill-repute...I wonder why Mummy gave me this kind of "good" advice. I think she confused Bintan with Batam. Haha.

Anyway, the trip was wonderful...Great beaches, excellent company and fine weather...What more could a guy on holiday ask for? The vacation gave me an opportunity to unwind and to take stock of life...It was a much-needed break for me to consider my future options (eg."Should I eat Roti John or chicken curry for lunch? Or maybe I should try both? And in what proportion? ")

I really enjoyed the lazy, langorous afternoons spent soaking up the warm and peachy sun...and being coaxed to sleep by the gentle sea breeze. The salty-sweet smell of the playful waves lapping at my curled toes still lingers fondly in my mind. Sticking my tongue out, I could taste the sweetness of nature. Not a sound could be heard, save for the pure and resonant singing of the waves as they met the shore. The sand on the pristine beaches was as fine and soft as a young child's dream...It was so beautiful, it seemed surreal. Mmmm....I like!

My friends and I stayed at the Cempaka Villas, which oozed oodles of quaint, rustic charm. Our estate was an image of idyllic bliss. Luckily, it was not the holiday season yet, so there were no irritating hordes of kiasu Singaporean tourists! Everything was just so quiet and perfect. It was a pity that our villa did not have an indoor swimming pool...but at least we had a cute little buggy all to ourselves! Oh, and cable TV too.

But screw the cable la! I mean, there are so many other fun things to do.

We went kayaking, swimming, played beach volleyball and just hung out at the beach...I found the time to build some sand castles and pick sea shells....We even got an aromatherapy massage by the beach! (Haha, but the masseur 出手太重 and somehow managed to knead out one of my toenails while massaging my toes!)

At night, we went for drinks at the Neeyala, a beach bar...The Long Island Tea was really, really strong...but it still went down very well. Rayner's Route 101 was horrid though, it reeked of almonds...just like cyanide! Hahaha. The restaurants at the Resort served yucksy food...flat, boring and lacking soul...the mango pudding was a tapioca cake that was supposed to be drizzled with a mango sauce created from artificial flavourings! Yucks! The roast leg of lamb with mustard sauce looked and tasted like a stale Christmas log cake. The tiramisu was a goey, incoherent mess...low quality Mascaporne cheese was used, which made the mess taste unnaturally sharp. Worse, the grilled vegetables had started to turn watery, the result of seating too long on a bed of (*gasp!*) shaved ice! Hullo?! Grilled vegetables have to be served WARM!

Anyway, the food and drinks there are really expensive ( 5 bucks for a bottle of Coke?!) So we did our own cooking too. Duane made marvellous chicken steaks and panfried Sutchi fillets...Delicious Penne pasta too! Duane is a really conscientious cook...I think he would make the perfect housemate. Rayner's experiment with Angel Hair pasta turned out quite lumpy, but I give him an A* for effort. I was the De Facto Sommelier, and tried to make sure that the Merlots that I had brought over was a fitting compliment to Duane's gorgeous cooking.

All said, it was a great holiday. Words cannot describe the happiness that I felt when we were having fun together...It's kinda sad that we will be going our separate ways soon...But at least I have great memories of our time in Bintan:)